Hook Me Up

With new leadership at the FCC and the continuing need for consumers to have choice, the time is ripe for the Commission to address the competitive broadband deployment agenda. This panel will delve into the obstacles competitive providers face and will discuss what policies will expedite competitive broadband deployment in order to promote investment and more affordable connectivity to communities across the nation. This discussion will touch upon MDU’s, rights-of-way and building access, among other integral issues involved with accelerating broadband deployment.

Speakers

John Burchett

Head of Public Policy for Google Access and Google Fiber

John Burchett is the Head of Public Policy for Google Access and Google Fiber. Before moving to Access/Fiber in 2016, Mr. Burchett led the public policy efforts for Google in the US States since 2007, and managed public policy for Latin America and Canada since 2010. He is based in Google’s Washington, DC office. Prior to joining Google, he was Chief of Staff to Governor Jennifer Granholm where he acted as the Chief Operating Officer for the State of Michigan. He has also served Governor Granholm as Director of Michigan’s Washington, DC Office, and as the Deputy Director of her Transition Team in 2002. Mr. Burchett, a Michigan native, has lived in Washington for most of the last 19 years. He was a White House Fellow in 1997 – 98, a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an Assistant Management Officer for the DC Control Board, and a management consultant, specializing in state and local government, business planning and business process reengineering. Before moving to Washington in 1997, Mr. Burchett was an Assistant Wayne County Corporation Counsel. At Wayne County he focused on real estate and economic development projects for the County. He was heavily involved in the negotiations and development of the two new stadiums in downtown Detroit. Before joining Wayne County in 1994, Mr. Burchett was a real estate lawyer for Little Caesars Enterprises, and for Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn. He also was a law clerk to the Hon. Cornelia Kennedy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Burchett received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. 

Todd Shields (Moderator)

Bloomberg

Todd Shields covers media policy in Washington for Bloomberg News, and has covered the Federal Communications Commission for more than 10 years. Before coming to Bloomberg in 2007, Shields was Washington correspondent for New York-based Mediaweek magazine, the bible of the media-buying industry. He has worked for the Washington Post, the Associated Press and as a freelance reporte in the Middle East and Africa. Shields holds degrees from Columbia University and the University of Virginia.

Kurt Van Wagenen

President and CEO, FirstLight Fiber

Kurt Van Wagenen has been the President and CEO of FirstLight Fiber since October 2013. Prior to FirstLight, Mr. Van Wagenen was President and CEO of FiberTower Corporation from 2008 until 2012. From 2001 to 2007, he held executive positions at NEON Communications, including President and CEO from January of 2007 until NEON was acquired by RCN Corporation. He also served as President and COO of Globix Corporation. Mr. Van Wagenen began his career at Verizon Communications and its various predecessors, holding positions of increasing responsibility.Mr. Van Wagenen earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Mr. Van Wagenen also serves on the Board of Directors of INCOMPAS, A Better Chance and Pathways to College.

Edi Demaj

Co-Founder & COO, Rocket Fiber

Edi Demaj is the Co-Founder and COO of Rocket Fiber, a gigabit Internet, IPTV and phone provider. As the operations lead of Rocket Fiber, Edi is responsible for helping with the execution of the Rocket Fiber vision by bridging the gap between technology, product and other areas within the company. In addition to helping shape the vision of Rocket Fiber, he helps oversee negotiations and management of various vendors and clients. Rocket Fiber has grown to over 30 team members and is continuing to expand its network in Detroit.
Edi has also co-founded other companies, most notably, REOZOM, a real estate tech company that makes the buying and selling of a home easier, faster and more affordable. REOZOM started in Michigan only in 2015 and is expanding to other states during 2016.

He also co-founded iziSurvey, a company that provides online and offline survey tools. As a co-founder of iziSurvey, Edi helped build and take to market an advanced web platform and phone/tablet application for surveying and data collection that is now used by educational institutions, businesses and individuals in various countries.

Prior to moving to Rocket Fiber full time, Edi worked for Bedrock Real Estate in Detroit, part of the Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures Family of Companies, where he helped with leasing, management and development coordination.

Mary McDermott

Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Lumos Networks

Mary McDermott is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Lumos Networks, a fiber-based telecom company in the Mid-Atlantic region based in Waynesboro. She joined the company in 2001, prior to the separation of NTELOS Wireless and Lumos Networks   Mary has been a telecom lawyer for 35 years.  Her career includes twelve years with NYNEX (now part of Verizon) and six years with telecom trade associations in Washington, DC.  At NYNEX, she was responsible for NYNEX’s advocacy before the Federal Communications Commission and Congress.  She served for four years as Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs at the United States Telecom Association where she led the association’s FCC advocacy. She then joined the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA) as senior vice president and chief of staff for government relations. 

Mary is a West Virginia native and completed her undergraduate studies magna cum laude at West Virginia University where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.  She is a Harvard Law School graduate.